Do you use a Food Scale &/or Heart Rate Monitor?

I don't use a HRM but I hear the Polar ones are excellent.

I swear by my kitchen scale, it's a Salter 1035. It's amazing!

For Calories burned I use a Heart Monitor (Polar) with a chest strap, and the reason I selected Polar was the ability to use it with the fitness machines at the gym instead of using the hand strips .. HTH

And for the Food .. I use the Body For Life Measurements: Protein & Veggies (Size of your hand open) , and Carb the size of your fist ... but when in doubt get the scale(s) out .. lol

I have both...my scale is a cheap on from Walmart and I bought a Timex Unisex HRM from Amazon for about $35. Both work fine for me!

I use both. I have a polar f4 HRM. I do like it, it is comfortable. It is different than the calories on the machine or the calories that MFP gives for the same exercise.

I also have a food scale. It is just a simple 5 dollar walmart one. It has a cup. I wish I had gotten the one with the tray so I can measure meat easier.

As for the food you enter, you need to be careful which ones you select. If you see and * next to it, that means a member entered it and you need to check the data. You alse need to keep an eye on it because people can go in and change the info too. I look for the ones without star, that means it is data that the sight already had there. I think it is more accurate, plus you can hit the drop down box and get more options on serving sizes.

I've been on MFP since January this year too but was on Calorie Count back in 2007 and lost the 30lbs I'm trying to get rid of again. I actually started there but still found so much missing from their database and all my research kept pulling up this site, I decided to swtich and save myself the hassle.

I use both actually and measuring spoons, cups etc. I even have multiple sets of both!
My HRM is a polar FT4 and works well for what I wanted to track and was in my price range $85 at D I C K's Sporting Goods before tax. It also has a chest strap and a wrist watch/receiver.
My scale is a very old (+20 years) Sunbeam digital from my flea market days. It works and has grams and ounces setting. Very basic but it does what I need it to. I usually weigh solids and measure liquids unless using spoon measurements (except for milk I might use a shot glass (1oz) as it's easier than counting out 2T.

I couldn't live without either now that I have both. When my scale battery goes, I resort to measuring but it's less accurate as everything doesn't fit into a cup the same and if you pack it then you get more than if you weighed it etc. I don't deprive myself of any food that I feel like eating, I just make sure to stick to portions and make it work within my numbers, even if that means working out some to get more calories to eat.

etc:changed my shot measurement to 2T from 4T

yes and yes
Still not sure what is the accurate way to weight my meat (raw or cooked) but I use it a lot. I have been going by the raw weight
I can NOT live without my HRM....LOVE IT! I have the polar FT7

Hi AB!

yep! I use a digital scale i bought at a bed,bath and beyond (about $20), it is cool because you can put your plate on it then zero it out, then add a food, zero it out, and keep going. you can measure in grams or ounces.

HRM just got a new one Polar FT4 (on sale for $75 ish) very simple and feels way more accurate than databases online. It's more personal to you becasue you input your info rather than a generalized deal like any data base has to. So to me very worth the money!

I agree with previous post that you gotta have the right tools especially as you get near your goal - and because i have a scientific brain, it is alot of fun for me.....

hmmmmm - what else could we do with our HRM's on..........fun!!!

I use both as well. I have a cheapy digital food scale which works great... HRM I have the Garmin FR60 which I love... I can download my workouts to my computer and see a graph of my HR during my workout... love, love it!

I use both. I've found that I can neither accurately assess my hr/cal burn, nor how much food I'm eating. MFP overestimates my burn by quite a bit, and if I "think" I've eaten 4 oz. of something, it's probably more like 6-8 oz. So it's a bad combo, to be overestimating my burn, and underestimating what I eat, hence the hrm and scale!

I actually got the scale yrs ago b/c I used to do a lot of bread baking, ironically.

I use a digital postage scale I picked up for $7 for weighing my food. No HRM yet.

it is nice to see somebody else using the postage scale to weigh; husband bought me a 5 pound postage scale a few years ago and now I have a small plastic bowl that I set on top, turn it on while the bowl is on so it automatically calibrates the weight and starts at zero when I put the food in. Has worked out great for figuring out serving sizes; was going to spend money on one but this one works so will hold off.